Chaos at RG Kar Protest: Victim’s Mother Alleges Police Assault, Suffers Head Injury
Kolkata witnessed high drama on Saturday as police clashed with protesters during a march led by the parents of the young woman doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last year.
Mother Alleges Assault
The victim’s parents were injured in the police action and admitted to hospital. The mother alleged that women police personnel roughed her up while she was on her way to join the protest, organised to mark one year since her daughter’s brutal killing.
In the scuffle, her shankha (traditional conch shell bangle) was broken, and she suffered a head injury.
“Why are they stopping us like this? All we want is to reach Nabanna and seek justice for my daughter,” she said.
Her husband, the victim’s father, claimed that despite court permission for a peaceful rally, police tried to prevent them from reaching Dorina Crossing to join the march.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who visited the couple in hospital, said the mother’s condition was “not good”, though the father was recovering.
Protest Turns Chaotic
The rally, part of the Nabanna Chalo Abhiyan, spiralled into chaos when protesters tried to break police barricades and march towards the state secretariat. Police resorted to lathi charge to disperse the crowd.
A group of protesters reached Santragachi in Howrah and attempted to breach iron barricades erected by the police.
Chanting slogans demanding justice for the RG Kar victim, protesters vowed to reach Nabanna “irrespective of blockades”.
“The police can fire upon us, but we are determined to reach Nabanna. The government must answer why justice has not been delivered even after one year,” a protester said.
Many demonstrators carried the Tricolour and posters demanding Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation for “failing to protect women”.
Meanwhile, Adhikari, BJP leader Agnimitra Paul, and several MLAs staged a sit-in at the Park Street–J L Nehru Road crossing, alleging that over 100 protesters, including BJP leaders, were injured in the police action.
Crowds swelled at the protest points in both Howrah and Kolkata, but police did not allow demonstrators anywhere near the secretariat. Five policemen were also injured in the clashes.
Background: The RG Kar Case
On August 9 last year, the body of the 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor was found inside the Chest Medicine Department’s seminar hall at the hospital. The brutal nature of the crime, committed within a state-run facility, sparked outrage across West Bengal and beyond, leading to mass protests involving students, doctors, and civil society groups.
The Kolkata police began the investigation, but the Calcutta High Court later handed it over to the CBI. In January 2025, civic volunteer Sanjoy Roy was convicted of rape and murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
However, the victim’s family and rights activists say the case is not over. Two others — then principal Sandip Ghosh and former Tala police station officer-in-charge Abhijit Mondal — were later arrested for allegedly misleading the investigation. Mondal was released on bail after the CBI failed to file a charge sheet within 90 days.
